OBAMA PROMISED SPECIAL INTERESTS PROTECTION IN EXCHANGE FOR SPENDING MILLIONS TO PROMOTE OBAMACARE: “In a June 2009 email, President Obama’s point person on health care promised the pharmaceutical industry it would be protected against efforts to allow cheap drugs to be re-imported from Canada, because drug lobbyists had been ‘constructive’ in their secret negotiations with White House officials. … As part of the final deal, PhRMA agreed to support health care legislation, spend millions on ads promoting it, and agree to $80 billion in savings and taxes to help finance the bill.” (Phillip Klein, “Emails Reveal Secret Obamacare Deal with Drug Cos,” The Washington Examiner, 5/31/2012)

PhRMA MEMO: “INDUSTRY PROVIDES THE MAJORITY OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT” FOR PRO-OBAMACARE ADS: “A PhRMA memo described a group called Health Economy Now, and noted that under an agreement ‘the industry provides the majority of financial support for positive TV ads advocating passage of health reform.’ It also provided financial backing for television ads thanking lawmakers for their support of an expansion of children’s health care insurance under Medicaid, the U.S. insurance program for the poor, and a campaign called ‘Harry and Louise,’ run with Families USA, a Washington-based pro-health care reform group that advocates for consumers.” (Drew Armstrong, “Drugmakers Vowed to Campaign for Health Law, Memos Show,” Bloomberg, 5/31/2012)

DRUG COMPANIES GOT A LAW THAT PROVIDED THEM “MILLIONS OF NEW CUSTOMERS”: “In exchange, PhRMA not only ended up with a law that promised to provide it with millions of new customers, but protected it against policies contemplated by Democrats that would have been harmful to their profits, such as introducing a government plan into the Medicare prescription drug program, allowing rebates for drug purchases through the program and drug re-importation.” (Phillip Klein, “Emails Reveal Secret Obamacare Deal with Drug Cos,” The Washington Examiner, 5/31/2012)

DRUG COMPANIES “WON OTHER UNPUBLICIZED DEALS FROM THE ADMINISTRATION” THAT WHITE HOUSE DENIED AT THE TIME: “The emails show that drug makers won other unpublicized deals from the administration, which both the White House and the pharmaceutical lobby repeatedly denied at the time but were later disclosed in news reports. They included a promise from the White House not to demand that drug makers negotiate Medicare prices with the federal government, which could have reduced drug costs.” (Alicia Mundy, “E-mails Describe Deal-Making on Obama Health Bill,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/31/2012)

“THE WHITE HOUSE THREATENED TO SHAME THE INDUSTRY PUBLICLY IF THE NEGOTIATIONS FELL APART”: “At one point, the White House threatened to shame the industry publicly if the negotiations fell apart, according to an email written June 10 by a PhRMA lobbyist. ‘Barack Obama is going to announce in his Saturday radio address support for rebating all of [Medicare Part] D unless we come to a deal. So they are punishing us’ for refusing to concede, he wrote, referring to a proposal to require rebates in across-the-bard Medicare’s prescription-drug program. ‘They can’t get 60 votes for that [in the Senate]. It isn’t even a real threat,’ the email concluded. The president’s radio address, three days later, didn’t include the line.” (Alicia Mundy, “E-mails Describe Deal-Making on Obama Health Bill,” The Wall Street Journal, 5/31/2012)

OBAMA SAID “WE’LL HAVE THE NEGOTIATIONS TELEVISED ON C-SPAN, SO THAT PEOPLE CAN SEE WHO IS MAKING ARGUMENT ON BEHALF OF THEIR CONSTITUENTS, AND WHO IS MAKING ARGUMENTS ON BEHALF OF THE DRUG COMPANIES”: “But what we will do is, we’ll have the negotiations televised on C-SPAN, so that people can see who is making arguments on behalf of their constituents, and who is making arguments on behalf of the drug companies or the insurance companies. And so, that approach, I think is what is going to allow people to stay involved in this process.” (Angie Drobnic Holan, “Negotiate Health Care Reform in Public Sessions on C-SPAN,” PolitiFact, 6/10/2009)